Richard Sherman was the main reason for his recent trade rumor

A few weeks ago, rumors broke that the Seattle Seahawks might be interested in trading away Richard Sherman.

Since then both head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider confirmed that a trade is very possible before the offseason is over.

At first, it seemed very odd that the Seahawks, a defensively-oriented team who prides itself on having the “Legion of Boom”, would want to get rid of their All-Pro cornerback who is arguably the face of their franchise.

“My understanding is that Richard Sherman initiated this,” Schefter said in an ESPN appearance on Wednesday. “He was looking to get out of Seattle. He was open to that idea. They’re accommodating by listening to trade offers and they’ll see what happens.”

It’s worth noting that 2016 wasn’t exactly a smooth year for Sherman. Not only did he not live up to his lofty expectations for numerous plays on the field, but he also blew off the media after games many times, got in an altercation with the team’s offensive coordinator and was injured for a large portion of the year.

However, the idea of him suiting up for another team is certainly odd to think about. During Seattle’s playoff runs in recent seasons, including their Super Bowl winning year, it was Sherman who received much of the praise for not only his stellar performance, but for his leadership.

Divisional Round – Seattle Seahawks v Atlanta Falcons

In an interview on 710 ESPN Seattle earlier this week, Schneider conveyed that everyone within the organization is comfortable voicing their thoughts and concerns to one another, from the coaches to the front office to the players.

“People find things out and we’re not going to lie to each other and we’re not going to BS each other,” Schneider said. “It’s going to be all laid out, and like I said, that doesn’t happen everywhere. We have open lines of communication between our coaching staff and our player personnel staff. It goes through player development, it goes through our sports science group. There’s a lot going on there.”

Therefore, if a trade does or doesn’t happen, it doesn’t seem like there will be any hard feelings on either side.

Divisional Round – Seattle Seahawks v Atlanta Falcons

In 2016, Sherman had 55 tackles (38 solo, 20 assisted) with 13 passes defensed and four interceptions through all 16 regular-season games. The year before, he had 50 combined tackles (33 solo, 17 assisted) with 14 passed defensed and two interceptions in 16 regular-season games.

Those were cry cries from the pair of eight-interception seasons he had in 2012 and 2013, as he established himself as the best in the business. While interceptions don’t tell the whole story (since quarterbacks can avoid throwing to guys based on who’s covering them), his ability to lock down wideouts has slightly declined over the past few seasons.

Nonetheless, his willingness to leave Seattle was certainly an interesting aspect of his current situation.